Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has called on the National Assembly to initiate steps to recover what he describes as $123.17 billion and ₦66.4 billion in outstanding oil and gas revenues, warning that he may seek judicial intervention if lawmakers fail to act.
In a letter dated October 28, 2026, addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and copied to House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, Falana said the amounts arose from alleged unpaid royalties, undeclared oil exports, Nigeria LNG dividends, extractive industry liabilities and refinery rehabilitation contracts.
The largest component of the claim is $62 billion in royalties which Falana said should have been collected from international oil companies under earlier deep offshore production sharing arrangements. He referred to litigation involving oil producing states and maintained that court decisions and a subsequent government review supported demands for recovery.
Falana also cited $29 billion in alleged undeclared or stolen crude oil and gas exports, referring to investigations associated with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and a House of Representatives committee. These allegations concern disputed transactions and should not be treated as established findings of theft without the underlying reports and court records.
A further $23.1 billion, according to the letter, represents Nigeria LNG dividends allegedly received through the national oil company but not remitted to the Federation Account. Falana called for parliamentary scrutiny of the payment history and the legal treatment of the funds.
The lawyer also referred to findings of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, citing approximately $6.17 billion and ₦66.4 billion in outstanding collectable revenues. The supplied text separately quotes a figure of $6.071 billion from a NEITI report, an inconsistency that requires reconciliation against the original publication.
The final $2.9 billion component relates to rehabilitation contracts for the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries. Falana argued that disruptions and shutdowns after announced rehabilitation milestones warranted investigation and possible recovery of contract payments. Whether the contract sums are legally recoverable depends on the contractual terms, work performed and any established breach.
He urged lawmakers to obtain the relevant reports, pursue appropriate oversight and recovery measures and consider referrals to enforcement agencies. The letter gave a 14 day deadline before possible legal action.
The overall dollar total reflects the categories Falana identified; it is not an independently verified debt owed to the federation. Responses from NNPC Limited, the affected operators, the National Assembly and relevant federal agencies are necessary before conclusions can be drawn.
